Meet Design Museum Designer in Residence James Christian

James Christian’s work tackles arguably the biggest issue facing London as a city – housing. Responding to disruption – this year’s Designers In Residence theme – James has looked back at slum housing from London’s history to see what modern planners and architects can learn from the way they operated.

It’s provocative stuff on one level and James doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of life in these slums; rather he probes how we might address the impersonal nature of so much contemporary living. As part of our broadcast partnership with the show, we went into James’ studio to get a better insight into him and his design thinking.

Designers In Residence runs until 8 March 2015.

James Christian in his studio (Photo by Cat Garcia)

James Christian in his studio (Photo by Cat Garcia)

James Christian in his studio (Photo by Cat Garcia)

James Christian in his studio (Photo by Cat Garcia)

James Christian’s work at Designers In Residence 2014 (Photo by Luke Hayes)

James Christian’s work at Designers In Residence 2014 (Photo by Luke Hayes)

We are excited to present a social evening with this year’s Designers in Residence and Special Guests on Tuesday 14 October. Come along to meet the designers and find out more about their interests and working methods through informal presentations, followed by drinks and discussions. Tickets cost £14 (£10.50 students) and includes entry to the show. Find out more here.

Disruption is a term that has a checkered recent history, but there’s no denying is a powerful cultural concept. When Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic chose it as the theme for this year’s Designers in Residence, he was at pains to point out it’s an idea that has come to be misunderstood. Now as part of our broadcast partnership with the exhibition, we’re hosting an evening of talks featuring creatives whose work is built on some form of disruption.

The final of the Design’s Museum’s four Designers in Residence for 2014 is Patrick Stevenson-Keating. From its base in south-east London, Patrick’s collaborative design group Studio PSK works “on the changing landscapes within technology, design, science and society.” His work for the Designers in Residence exhibition rethinks our relationship with money, and in particular how we might address the fundamental disconnection from financial transactions we suffer in the digital era.

One of the best things about this year’s Designers in Residence is that it takes big ideas and makes them accessible to the gallery-going public. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Torsten Sherwood’s work, which looks at disrupting traditional patterns of play with a new kind of interlocking building block that reimagines the basic functions of LEGO. Not only can you see how Tortsen’s ideas developed at the show, you can also have a go yourself which adds a fantastically fun element to proceedings.

The Design Museum’s Designers In Residence is one of the most important young creative talent schemes in the UK, and it’s been a real pleasure to be broadcast partner for the exhibition this year. Not only did we produce five films which you can watch at the show, but we are also running two events in the hallowed galleries of London’s design HQ.

Of all the designers involved in this year’s Design Museum Designers In Residence, Ilona Gaynor is arguably the most complex to engage with. Her work is often defined and described by what it isn’t rather than what it is, and she herself told us in an interview that she hoped visitors wouldn’t be disappointed “about not seeing a chair on a plinth” when they went to the show.

It seems fitting that the Design Museum’s Designers In Residence show has opened just days before London Design Festival kicks off. LDF is often derided – unfairly but loudly – as a celebration of design vacuousness, of shinier shelves and more ergonomic chairs. This year’s DiR exhibition is a celebration of design’s power, an exploration of how it can improve some of society’s fundamental building blocks – housing, play, money and the law.